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What is Search Engine Optimization?

If you own a business that has some sort of online presence (or not) someone is likely to ask if your site has been optimized for search engines. What does it mean to be optimized for a search engine, what is search engine optimization (SEO)? In essence search engine optimization is the process of boosting our website to the top of the search page for the topics you search in a effort to draw as many visitors to you as possible. This happens to be what Snap SEO specializes in.

How do we get you to the top? There are a few steps we take to bring out the true value of your website. You spend hours and dollars on your website or web property but very little to get it popping up in searches reaching its full potential. Some ways to get your site on the front page of search engines is done in the internal programming of your page and other is external factors. Working together you can boost your online visibility as long as they are done in a white hat, or safe way.

Aspects of On-Page Optimization

Internal optimization of web pages, also called on-page optimization consists of all the optimization techniques we use that directly affect the coding of your webpage. This means adding proper meta, schema and header data and adding proper geo-modifiers where appropriate.

Your on-page optimization should include the proper amount of essential words you are targeting called keywords. A good website domain (URL) should also be a top priority using one of your keywords. Title tags should include one or more of your target keywords and should also be captivating to both search engines and humans especially since we are sharing more and more on social media.

Meta tags or metadata is data on your site that is often not visible to the viewer but structured nicely so search engines can easily ready and grab important data. Remaining behind the scenes metadata is a hidden warrior quietly fulfilling its duty.

Header and sub header tags are HTML elements that also carry their own weight and often go overlooked. The most important elements and item headers should use header tags. Place more weight using a, “h1” tag versus a, “h6” tag.

This is all great however we often place a lot of emphasis on the back-end coding where we forget to look at the actual content. Good content is becoming more important than ever to ranking your site on search engines. Your key words and proper keyword density come into play. Your content should look as though it has been written by a human and cannot be overly stuffed with your target keywords. This isn’t only good for ranking on major engines like Google but it makes for better web content. In this day in age good, meaningful content is hard to come by.

On the alternative there is some websites packed with images and no text. Visual content helps make websites more pleasing to our eyes but may lack in important words or phrases. The saying goes, “every photo is worth a thousand words” so let’s bring some light onto this subject. Displaying images and videos maybe relating to your company however Google (at the time of writing) does not index the content of the image. Adding captions and “alt” tags to our images is a way to help get around this issue. Alt tags are still indexed however not visible to the website viewer unless the visual element cannot be loaded.

On Page Optimization comes down to a delicate balance of keywords, proper meta and header tags, optimized images and more. Titles that are too long or short can negative impact on your webpage search rankings.

Factors of Off-Page Optimization

External, or off page optimization of a webpage was, and if done right, still is the bread and butter of any SEO campaign. Creating a spectrum of links that funnel web crawling robots to your page help Google, and many other major search engines see you as an authoritative website. When adding backlinks, it is important to simulate organic growth which in turn makes the web crawling robot think your website is growing in popularity and being searched out by actual humans.

Having inbound links work in your favour. The more links from higher authority sites may make these search engines think you are the same, or more authoritative then the inbound links making your webpage grow in rankings.

Good on page content can be shared via social media channels such as Tumblr and Facebook. Social media loves and craves good content and may be a hidden gem in getting your links on other webpages. This is one of the many channels we encourage you to explore to help you get free inbound links. People see your site, like what you have to say and share it with others in their social circles; keep in mind, those circles are continually broadening and spiraling into new realms. One positively charged blog post referencing your company could divert traffic to your website for months to come.

Piecing the SEO puzzle together

A user’s search begins at the search bar looking for good or services just like the ones you offer. Once that search button is pressed the search begins and web crawlers are sent out scouring the internet for the information you request. Businesses that incorporate effective SEO into their marketing strategies rise to the top and are blessed with more traffic, better rankings and as a result more conversions. Their competition is sent into oblivion. With ad blockers increasing in popularity those pay-per-click advertisements on the top are hidden resulting in a waste of money.

Proper SEO means you own the spot and don’t rent it out. Once you’re on top proper maintenance, just like a house or property will ensure you own that spot. Pay-per-click advertising is a one-time blitz and results in immediate drops once the campaign is over.

Making SEO work for you

When you combine all the proper on-page and off-page optimization with a good email marketing campaign geared towards your current customer and adding yourself to proper directories you start generating highly sought-after organic results. Search engine optimization is not a set it and forget it deal. Just like a house you must maintain it for it to work effectively. Adapting to the latest algorithms and search engine changes is a daunting task. A successful campaign means preventing any negatives from neutralizing your positive impacts and should be managed carefully. Do you want to manage SEO yourself or would you like Snap SEO to spin your search engine results into your favour.